Timeline of the Green v. USAGM case
Learn more about the MSPB appeal.
May 1
Judge grants extension for plaintiffs’ filing in Green v. USAGM case
MSPB Administrative Judge Paul DiTomasso grants a plaintiff request to extend by several days a deadline to file a reply to USAGM’s response over the class action issue. He gives the plaintiffs until May 4, saying he has only 30 days from the initial filing on April 6 to rule on whether or not the case will proceed as a class action.
Read the plaintiffs’ request for an extension.
Read the judge’s order granting an extension.
April 28
USAGM files response to Green v. USAGM complaint
USAGM opposes the request for the case to be designated as a class action. The agency argues that the circumstances surrounding the various DRP, VERA and VSIP separation agreements are too varied to qualify as a single class. Additionally, USAGM opposes the effort to begin precertification discovery to determine if the case should proceed as a class action, and it requests the case be put on hold pending a final decision in the Widakuswara v. Lake case.
Read the response.
April 16
MSPB assigns judge in Green v. USAGM case
The Merit Systems Protection Board assigns Administrative Judge Paul DiTomasso to the case. DiTomasso acknowledges the request by the plaintiffs to adjudicate the case as a class action and orders USAGM to file a response by April 28. Read the notice.
April 6
Former VOA employees challenge voluntary separation agreements
The former staffers file a class action case with the Merit Systems Protection Board. They challenge the validity of their separation packages, including the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) offered by the agency when it was trying to dismantle VOA. The filing comes a month after a federal judge invalidated the actions Kari Lake took while leading USAGM.
Read the complaint.
Learn more about the case.
March 31
Appeals court stays return-to-work order
A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issues a stay of Judge Royce Lamberth’s order that VOA and USAGM employees on administrative leave be returned to work. The ruling means that the government does not need to bring employees back to work while the appeals process plays out.
Read the order.
March 17
Judge orders VOA and USAGM employees back to work
Judge Royce Lamberth rules that Kari Lake's attempt to bring Voice of America and USAGM to the “statutory minimum" was unlawful. He partially grants a plaintiff motion for summary judgment, ordering that all actions taken to reduce the agency to the statutory minimum be vacated, including the placement of employees on administrative leave, the suspension of broadcasting and the termination of staff. He orders employees to return to work by March 23.
Read the order.
Read the full opinion.
March 12
Trump nominates Rogers to be CEO of USAGM
In a court filing, lawyers for the government say President Donald Trump has nominated Sarah B. Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, to be CEO of USAGM, a position that needs Senate confirmation. They also say that Trump has directed Michael Rigas “to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office of CEO temporarily in an acting capacity.” In an email to staff, Kari Lake says, "I remain in the exact same position today as I was before: Deputy CEO — where I am even more determined to finish the job.” She called the lawsuits against her “malicious” and the judge’s orders and rulings “absurd.”
Read the filing.
March 7
Judge rules Lake not lawfully appointed
Judge Royce Lamberth rules that Kari Lake was not lawfully appointed, and that all actions she took at USAGM using authorities that were delegated to her in March and July of 2025 “shall have no force or effect,” including the mass layoffs that she announced on August 29. The judge ruled in favor of a motion from the plaintiffs for a partial summary judgement, in which they argued that Lake lacked the constitutional and statutory authority to lead USAGM.
Read his order.
Read his memorandum opinion.
February 26
Plaintiffs notify court of deferred resignation offer
Lawyers for the plaintiffs inform the court that USAGM notified employees by email that it is renewing the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), in which staff can resign from their positions but continue receiving pay until September 5. The email said, “The RIF noticed in August 2025 is currently suspended due to court order, and the Agency still intends to carry out a significant RIF as soon as we are able.” Lawyers for the plaintiffs call the RIF threat “concerning” and said if the court is in a position to rule on either of their motions for partial summary judgement before March 9 — the deadline for employees to accept the DRP — the decision “could significantly influence employee decision making by providing valuable information before the deadline to respond.” Read the plaintiffs’ filing.
February 3
Trump signs bill funding VOA
President Donald Trump signs a bill into law funding USAGM, after both the House and Senate approve the appropriations. The legislation includes around $199.5 million for VOA and is part of a bipartisan spending deal to fund much of the government for fiscal year 2026.
November 17
Plaintiffs file motions for partial summary judgment
Filing in district court, the plaintiffs in both VOA cases file two motions for partial summary judgment. In the first, they ask Judge Royce Lamberth to find that the actions USAGM took to reduce VOA to its “statutory minimum” were arbitrary and capricious and a violation of the law. In the second, they argue that Kari Lake lacks constitutional and statutory authority to lead USAGM. The plaintiffs ask the court to reinstate full-time federal workers and contractors, rescind layoff notices and ensure that VOA be restored to the network that existed before March 14, 2025.
Read motion #1 on violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and a filing explaining the motion.
Read motion #2 on Lake’s lack of authority and a filing explaining the motion.
September 30
Voluntary separation agreements take effect
September 30 is the date that most VOA and USAGM employees who agreed to participate in the DRP, VERA and/or VSIP leave the agency. It is also the date that USAGM had given to most all employees as their date of termination under a RIF, which was only paused due to a court order.
September 29
Court pauses mass layoffs at VOA
Judge Royce Lamberth rules the administration must temporarily suspend its planned layoffs of more than 500 employees at VOA and USAGM. He said the defendants, including Kari Lake, have engaged in "obfuscation” about the agency's layoff plans and whether or not the layoffs accord with the court’s preliminary injunction to restore VOA programming to fulfill its statutory mandate. Read the order.
September 22
Appeals court hears VOA cases
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit hears oral arguments on whether Judge Royce Lamberth’s April preliminary injunction to restore jobs of employees and contractors should be upheld.
Listen to audio of the hearing.
August 29
USAGM begins new round of mass layoffs
Kari Lake announces the agency is eliminating 532 positions at VOA and USAGM, nearly all remaining staff save for a skeleton crew. Employees' last day on the payroll will be September 30. The agency previously announced mass layoffs of staff employees in June, but rescinded the notices a week later due to administrative errors. Beginning in late May, the agency fired nearly 600 contract workers.
July 30
VOA wins lower court motion
Judge Royce Lamberth finds the government has failed provide the court with accurate information about how it is spending Congressionally-appropriated funding for VOA. He further finds that the government has failed to fully explain how it intends to comply with the court’s injunction for VOA to meet its statutory obligations. Lamberth gives USAGM until August 13 to provide a detailed plan.
Read the order.
June 30
USAGM announces new voluntary separation offers
USAGM again offers employees the option to participate in a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA), which allows staff to retire earlier than normal. It also offers a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP), commonly known as a "buy out," to eligible employees who accept resignation or retirement. To participate, employees have to sign an agreement that they will resign or retire by September 30, 2025. The offers come after the agency announced it would carry out massive layoffs of VOA and USAGM staff.
Read the email.
June 27
USAGM rescinds layoffs due to errors
USAGM reverses the layoffs it issued only one week prior, but says it will carry out another round of layoffs in the near future. Union representatives at VOA say the reversal is due to the agency’s violations of law and contract in the way it carried out the layoffs.
Read the email.
June 25
Lake testifies to House committee
Kari Lake attacks VOA during testimony to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Read an annotated fact check of Lake’s opening remarks.
Read the plaintiffs’ response.
June 20
USAGM begins mass layoffs
USAGM launches mass layoffs of VOA and USAGM staff, including some members of the Persian service that it called back to work the prior week to cover Israel’s war with Iran. Employees last day on the payroll will be September 1, Labor Day.
Read the USAGM announcement.
Read the plaintiffs’ response.
June 3
Lake informs Congress of large staff cuts
As first reported by the Washington Post, Kari Lake sends a letter to Congress, saying she plans to cut most of the 800 remaining staff members at VOA. Her plan is to keep only 17 journalists and broadcast technicians, down from more than 1,300 employees who worked at the broadcaster at the start of March 2025.
Read the letter (PDF).
May 3
Appeals court stays part of ruling
A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issues a stay on the reinstatement of VOA employees, ruling 2-1 that the government does not need to bring employees back to work while the court decides the merits of the case.
The appeals court notes the government did not challenge the aspect of Judge Royce Lamberth's ruling requiring it to restore VOA’s "statutorily required programming levels."
Read the ruling (PDF).
April 22
Judge orders VOA employees back to work
Judge Royce Lamberth at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rules in favor of VOA employees, ordering USAGM to return staff and contractors to their work status prior to March 14, 2025, and to “restore VOA programming such that USAGM fulfills its statutory mandate that VOA ‘serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news.’” Lamberth calls the administration’s decision to dismantle VOA “arbitrary and capricious” and writes, “Not only is there an absence of 'reasoned analysis' from the defendants; there is an absence of any analysis whatsoever.”
Read the full memorandum opinion (PDF).
Read the order (PDF).
March 28
USAGM issues early retirement and deferred resignation offers
USAGM offers employees the option to participate in a Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) and/or Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA). The offers allow employees to retire earlier than normal and allow them receive pay through September 30, 2025. They come after the agency announced it would carry out massive layoffs of VOA and USAGM staff. Read the email.
March 26
Second lawsuit filed
VOA Director Michael Abramowitz, who has also been placed on leave, files a second lawsuit against VOA’s shuttering.
Learn more about Abramowitz v. Lake.
March 21
First lawsuit filed
A group of plaintiffs led by VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara file a lawsuit challenging the effective closure of VOA and the administration’s plans to fire all of its journalists. The plaintiffs include VOA and USAGM employees, unions representing federal workers and Reporters Without Borders.
Learn more about Widakuswara v. Lake.
Read RSF’s letter of support (PDF).
March 15
VOA programming goes dark
USAGM, effectively led by Kari Lake, ceases all VOA programming, forbids journalists from reporting the news, and places more than 1,300 workers on administrative leave. Read the email.
March 14
Trump signs executive order
President Donald Trump signs an executive order calling for the elimination of the “non-statutory components and functions” at USAGM, reducing the agency “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” Read the order.